Investors and consumers are pressuring companies to seriously incorporate Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices into their culture and operations. ESG has gone from a nice-to-have feature to a must-have pre-requisite as it is influencing investments and will ultimately decide winners and losers in the energy market going forward. The pressure of ESG is being […]
Regulations to drive U.S renewable diesel capacity growth through 2025
In 2019, U.S. renewable diesel capacity was around 26,000 barrels per day (Exhibit 1) but U.S. refiners are growing this capacity by more than twice with several new renewable diesel capital project announcements. U.S. renewable diesel capacity is expected to grow to 171,000 barrels per day over the next five years with several announced plants […]
Energy Transition and Coal-Fired Power
The energy transition is the journey from a fossil-based to a carbon-free energy system. In order to achieve the energy transition, utilities must strive towards 100% electrification. Advocacy groups such as the Sierra Club have been pushing for decarbonization and are collaborating with cities and utilities to enact regulations and implement best practices in sustainability […]
Energy Policy Proposals of the U.S. Presidential Candidates
With the 2016 presidential election right around the corner, ADI Analytics has summarized the proposed energy policies of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Our summary is based on the candidates’ energy policies from their websites and comments on energy issues from interviews and speeches. To the extent possible, policy proposals have been summarized in the […]
Oil Majors Pursue Energy Storage
In May 2016, Total announced a $1.1 billion purchase of battery maker, Saft. This is the largest investment into energy storage by an oil and gas company to date. Total is not alone in investing in energy storage technology to help support efforts to provide more renewable energy. Several other oil and gas companies have […]
Exploring Alternatives to Silicon Photovoltaic Cells
In today’s solar power industry, about 90% of solar panels are made from silicon materials. The price of silicon photovoltaics has fallen significantly enabling it to be a key driver for the success of solar energy. However, a disadvantage of silicon photovoltaics is that the cells use 1,000 times more light absorbing material than alternative […]
A portfolio of renewables can supply India’s demand for electricity
The big energy challenge of the future will be supplying enough low-carbon power to meet the emerging economies’ growing demands. Although renewable capacity continues to grow, as this blog has noted in the past, notwithstanding depressed financing, waning popular interest, disappearing subsidies, and slower technological progress, there is growing concern that renewables cannot be an important […]
Simple and innovative cleantech
Time magazine recently profiled BigBelly Solar and their simple but innovative solar-powered trash bins that collect and compact trash simultaneously. The product allows for a wide range of energy efficiency improvements and has been adopted by several cities. It’s a great example of how cleantech does not necessarily need capital-intensive investments.
Advancing the next generation of geothermal energy technologies
Geothermal energy doesn’t quite have the glamor of wind, solar, or biomass and thus receives little media or popular interest. Even so, the resource has a number of advantages, including the reliability of base load power, low operating costs, and virtually no greenhouse gas emissions. More importantly, geothermal energy is immensely promising if new technologies […]
No energy is more expensive than no energy
Homi Bhabha, the architect of India’s nuclear industry, reportedly once declared that no form of energy was more expensive than having no energy. Consumers in the developing world without (or at the margins of) access to electricity can empathize with that sentiment. Renewable power technologies are becoming cheaper but several developing world consumers are “ignoring” […]